Tangled
by Kimiz
Summary: Quiet mornings, tangled up in bed, light whispers and soft eyes. A moment in time. ShikaTema Fluff.


**A/N: **Heey! This was a scene I came up with solely for a crazy urge to see ShikaTema in bed, being loving, early mornings and all that jazz. I didn't find many, so I thought I'd write my own. It was such a pain to write, you have no idea. At the beginning it was easy and I was like: Hey, this is so cute, I'm fucking loving it. And then I started including deep feelings, and nearly four pages later I realized this was not what I wanted at all! I just wanted a simple, everyday, slice of life scene. One with feelings, but nothing too elaborate. And off I was deleting half of it. So I hope my editing took care of the whole off-track thing, and that it didn't end up looking too cut up. As for the songs I was listening, it was between The Only Exception, by Paramore, and Never Gonna Leave This Bed, by Maroon 5. There was a dash of Such Great Heights, by Iron and Wine.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto's not mine. Not a bit. It's Kishimoto's and I wish he would drop the whole "I don't write shippers" façade and admit already that Shikamaru and Temari are secretely dating (LOL!)

**Tangled**

Temari's eyes fluttered open as she slowly regained consciousness. Her mind, for once, was fuzzy with drowsiness and she looked around for a moment, not knowing quite where she was. And then bits and pieces of the previous night rushed back to her head and it clicked. She knew the green walls, she knew the dark wood of the furniture, she remembered throwing scrolls on the desk in the corner, she was already familiar with the softness of the bed.

The mattress swayed for a second and she felt the light brush of fingers caressing her thigh, before they ran across her stomach and strong arms closed around her waist. Well, that was something she knew as well. She smiled into her pillow, resting her own arms on top of the ones holding her. The man behind her nuzzled her tenderly, burrying his face in her golden hair and kissing her neck lightly.

"You're awake?" Shikamaru's low voice whispered in her ear, husky from sleep and lack of use. She turned her head slightly to him, letting him catch the corners of her smile with his lips.

She turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck, letting their legs tangle under the blanket. Their lips touched softly, in the gentlest kiss they ever shared. She reveled in the feeling of fluttery in her body, and the hairs standing up in her arms. It was always hushed whispers and desperate kisses with them. These quiet moments were rare.

She felt him pull her closer, turning them delicately until she was laid on top of him. She pulled her arms back, hands running from his neck to lay sprawled on his chest as she looked down at him, hair tumbling down, making a curtain of gold close around them. He lifted one hand and tucked her hair behind one ear, letting the back of his hand brush tenderly against her cheek. She closed her eyes at the caress. He cupped her cheek as she leaned down to kiss him.

His lips left hers for a moment, to press against her throat and the space between her shoulder and neck. He leaned his forehead against her collar bone. She dragged herself lower. He groaned.

"Woman, don't tease…" he warned half-heartedly. She chuckled, crossing her hands on top of his chest, leaning her chin on them, watching as he twisted his head to look at her. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Looking at you." She answered softly, teal eyes just as soft. She reached out and let one hand run across his face, delicately tracing his features with the tips of her fingers. His half-lidded eyes stared back at her, dark brown and specks of black, flashes of caramel, hidden bits of grey, so loving. She thought she couldn't forget those eyes if she tried. They softened and he held her tighter.

"Come here." He muttered, pulling her to him. She laid her head on his chest, nuzzling his neck, kissing his jaw. He ran his fingers through her arm, so gently it almost tickled.

"What do you have to do today?" she muttered, closing her eyes.

"Got to kick my lame brats around a bit." He said with a yawn. She smiled, wrapping an arm around his chest.

"Your poor team will be pleased you care so much." He chuckled, she could feel the vibrations through his chest.

"They'll be pleased enough when I send them home early."

"I feel for the future generations of your village." She joked, lifting her head, leaning on an elbow to hover over him.

"Don't. I teach them right when you're not here."

Her heart fluttered at his words. She felt silly, but the fact that he would leave his team, his 'lame brats' who were second family to him, to run back to her, gave her a sense of her own importance. It was stupid, but it felt good.

"Hmm… If I were here all the time you wouldn't teach them at all?" she joked, lips hovering over his. "That just might be a good political move. We send kunoichis all over the world, men fall in love…" she teased. He lifted his chin, brushing his lips to hers.

"That could work, there's just one catch."

"Uhm?" she hummed. His eyes locked to hers.

"They would all have to be like you, and I think you're the only one." He muttered, reaching out and kissing her.

Her heart thumped fast. Damn that man, making her feel all warm and fluttery inside.

She pulled back, breath hitching in her throat as his fingers met a special spot that made her shiver. His lips curled in a crooked smirk at the look on her face. She glared at him for the teasing, rolling out from on top of him and lying on her side, trying to elbow him away when he turned along to wrap his arms around her. Damn him. She was blushing now. Fucking blushing. She hand't blushed since she was twelve and there she was, flushing and gushing like a school girl.

"Tem!" he chuckled.

"Oh, shut up." She mumbled, trying to stay mad, but failing miserably after seeing the look on his face.

No one looked at her the way Shikamaru did.

When he looked at her like that, with those dark eyes filled with warmth, eyes that had seen her in her heaven highs and rock bottom lows, eyes that saw every single one of her flaws, eyes that watched her with desire, understanding, recognition… She couldn't help but think this…

This kind of felt like it was love.

"What are you doing?" she whispered in a soft voice, lips curling in an unconscious smile. His own smiled back, and he breathed out to her lovingly, as she had done earlier.

"Looking at you."

Her throat closed with the butterflies pirouetting in her belly, her heart beated so fast for a second she was afraid he would hear it and make fun of her. He had disarmed her with three words. She felt bare, defenseless, so very vulnerable. But she trusted him enough to let her guard down.

"Can't you stay?" she mumbled, burrying her face in his chest. She smiled when she felt his own pulse quicken and grinned when he mumbled back.

"I'll call in sick."

They were so different, yet just the same, and somehow, somewhere along the line they had reached out to each other. Their fates had twisted and bent to meet and entwine. They were finally tangled up on each other, never to part.

**A/N: **Hmm, feel the ShikaTema goodness. xD Quite an abrupt ending if I say so myself, but I didn't find a better way to cut it. And by the way, I didn't use much their names, that was on purpose, I felt it was too intimate to keep calling out on them the whole time. I just left it as she's and he's, because it looked like it didn't cut up the moment too much. Am I crazy? Quite possibly. So, I hope you enjoyed it, leave a review, will you?


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